


They come in the night

by CactusMons



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Knights - Freeform, M/M, Monsters, Rituals, Transformation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24525307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CactusMons/pseuds/CactusMons
Summary: The main character tells a story about the village that they live in and the creatures that come in the night.
Relationships: Steven Becken/Ralph Amsden
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

It was a new day in the village in which I lived. The raids had been getting worse and worse lately. The beasts of the dark had taken more and more of my people, our animals and our food.

They came in the night, talons and horns shaped like daggers reflected the moonlight as they tore doors from their hinges and stole away whatever and whoever they could find.

I was lucky I had not been taken. Yet.

The elders used to say the creatures were born from darkness itself before they too were taken.

During the day what I saw what was left of the village would tend the barren crops, feed the dwindling populus of livestock and fish in the river—being careful not to go too far into the forests which surround us.

I awoke with a jolt and checked my surroundings, recognising my room. I walked downstairs to see if we had been attacked only to find everything in its place. My mother greeted me with open arms, happy to see me.

After I had breakfast, my mother sent me on an errand into the market to try and pick up what supplies were left before the night fell once more.

On my short walk into the market square, I saw the remains of households and farms that had not been so lucky.

Fence posts ripped from the ground and burned grasses were a common sight only broken up by the odd demon corpse.

When I arrived at the market, I set out to buy supplies, although this task was made harder every day due to the lack of resources. 

My village had learned many months ago that sending hunting parties out into the forest to gather food was useless as those who went in never came out.

Our efforts to notify the larger towns and cities closer to the Capital had turned out to be fruitless. Maybe they had already been wiped out and we were the last survivors. Or perhaps they just didn't care.

After finding some of the items, I had been sent for I noticed the position of the Sun in the sky. It was noon. I decided to abandon my mission and go back to the relative safety of my house before nightfall.

I set the shopping basket down upon the kitchen table and went out to the barn to tend to our last two horses. If food got any scarcer, we might have to resort to them for food. That was not a thought I enjoyed.

As the afternoon light hit the fields, my mother and I sat down for our measly dinner.

She hardly spoke any more. Not since my dad and his brother were taken just a week ago.

The last thing I remember of my dad was his screams as the beasts dragged him to their home. I couldn't sleep for days; sometimes, I still stay awake all night out of fear.

In all the melancholy I have forgotten to tell you my name. I am called Steven and little did I know this would be the last night I spent in my village…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Steven survive the night or will the monstrous creatures kill him? Only time will tell...

After dinner, my mother and I locked all the doors and windows and checked that all the boards that had been nailed to weak spots in our house still hold fast. Once everything had been double and triple checked we finally went to our respective rooms to try and sleep through the night, hoping that neither of us would be taken in the night.

Then it happened.

At midnight the beasts came into our town and the screaming began. We could hear walls being ripped apart and people being dragged from their homes.

I heard one of the creatures walking outside my window. I held my breath as not to notify it of my presence, but it was too late, the demon knew I was there.

It broke through my window and grabbed my leg with its clawed hand as I tried to run away from it. It picked me up effortlessly and leapt back through my shattered window running into the forest.

I had never seen a creature up close, and in the moonlight, I could see it in all its demonic horror. It was at least six feet tall and jutting out on either side of its forehead were two horns that appeared to be made of silver and shaped like daggers, it had sharp claws each at least an inch in length and in its’ gaping maw was a row of razor-sharp canines. Its skin was completely black and had gold amour on its shoulders and around its midsection. The most startling thing about it, though was its blood-red eyes that seemed to pierce through my very soul.

It stopped on the edge of the forest and looked into the town, I could see about six more demon-like entities causing havoc and stealing people and animals wherever they could find them.

It hefted me onto its shoulder, and as it did so I tried to kick free, but its grasp seemed inescapable.

With a snarl, the creature ran deeper into the forest at an earth-shattering pace, so fast I could hardly keep my bearing.

I had always wondered what the beasts did with the people they captured, but I never wanted to find out like this.

My captor slowed down at the edge of a cave. On the roof there hung a mass of pearly stalactites.

We moved further inwards, and the tunnel opened out into a massive, dimly lit cavern, the roof stretched up in a dome that peaked at what must have been 100 meters.  
In the middle of the space, there was a seven-foot wide circle as black as obsidian and on it was carved a blood-red pentagram.

It walked over to a metal cage and threw me in. My body crashed against the metal bars at the other end, and I was momentarily dazed. I sat up in the cage and tried to see through the darkness of the cave to see the beasts that brought me here.

They were in a large circle around the centre with the pentagram in the middle. I saw one of the beasts drag a man I recognised from my village into the centre of the circle. This creature was unlike the others, it was seven feet tall, and its horns were like gold sword blades instead of silver daggers.

It tied the man upon the pentagram and left to join the circle of demons.

They all started chanting in horrible rasping voices that seemed to combine and echo off the cavern walls. They seemed to be speaking in their own language as I couldn’t make out any of the words.

As they chanted yellow vapour steamed off the man’s body and he was wrapped in a black leathery substance that formed a cocoon. The material crept towards him from out of the shadows, and as the chanting grew to a cacophonous level, the man was covered entirely in his newly formed chrysalis.

Suddenly the chanting stopped, and the more substantial figure (maybe their king or priest?) lifted the cocoon and took it over to the other side of the cavern where I couldn’t quite see.

I stared into the distance wholly taken over by shock at the event that had just taken place.

I now knew what the beasts did with the men and women they captured, but that led to even more questions such as What happens inside the cocoon? And How long until it happened to me?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven learns more about his new home and the sinister secret of the cocoons.

After a few hours inside the cage, one of the creatures came and pushed a bowl filled with a cloudy liquid and bits of unidentified meat through a gap in the cage wall. Once the beast left, I carefully tried the soup/broth just in case it wasn’t edible for humans.

It tasted unpleasant and cold, and I had no form of cutlery to eat it with but at least it wouldn’t kill me and anyway I would need all the energy I could get if I were to try and escape.

Looking around at my surroundings, I saw two cages to my right. In them were some more people in about the same condition that I was in but I didn’t recognise them. I realised that the beasts must be attacking and pillaging more than just one village and then bringing all their spoils to this one large cavern.

Another thing I noticed was that there were no demons in the vast cavern that I could see which meant the cavern must have tunnels that branched off into living quarters and storage rooms.

Hoping the beasts wouldn’t hear me, I moved over to the lock on my cage and tried to open it. The lock was large, and the keyhole fit an oddly shaped key that could only be designed by a creature of pure evil.

I rattled the cage and tried picking the locks with some sticks I found on the floor, but nothing worked. I sat down, defeated and wondering how and if I was ever going to escape.

After an hour or so of sitting in the dimly lit cave, one of the creatures came over to my cage and took away the bowl that I had been given earlier. I watched as it walked away and out of sight.

An eternity past and suddenly a hoard of the monsters ran from one side of the cavern towards the entrance. ‘They must be going to raid more villages’ I thought to myself.

A few demons stayed behind chatting in the middle of the cavern near the pentagram but suddenly silenced themselves as the larger devil-creature came towards them out of the darkness. It barked some incomprehensible orders at them, and they scurried away toward the place that the cocoon had been taken the night before.

A few moments later they appeared dragging a cocoon onto the pentagram. The leader walked towards the cocoon and using one of its sharp claws split the chrysalis open and stepped back as a demon fell out! I suddenly realised that the ritual was turning regular people into horrifying monsters.

The newly formed beast slowly got up to its feet and joined the other demons snarling as it went. The leader held some gold armour in its arms, giving it to the beast to put on later. Together, the group of demons left the centre and headed for the edge of the cavern.

Not long after the sound of monsters could be heard at the entrance to the cave, they brought with them all different kinds of animal, effortlessly carrying cows and horses over their shoulders. Others brought humans, more bodies to convert, I guessed. A select few were carrying armour and weaponry, gold and silver. I wondered what they used it for or maybe they just hoarded it away in their cavern somewhere.

The humans were put into the cages, in mine, a man a few years older than me was deposited. His shirt had one of the royal emblems on it that I recognised belonged to the king’s royal guard. The man appeared to be unconscious but was otherwise reasonably unscathed.

I guessed that now it wouldn’t be long before the demons started another ritual. All I could do was hope that they didn’t decide to pick me…

"

** Layout of the cavern **


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven talks to the new prisoner.

When the man woke up, he asked me where we were, and I explained to him about the cavern and the rituals that took place here.

“We believe these demons are called the Kerokajé” He explained, “I am part of the king’s royal guard, and I was sent to a nearby village to gather information about them along with two other guards.”  
“I think that the ritual will be starting soon,” I said, “So you’ll be able to see it for yourself. By the way, my name is Steven.”  
“I’m Ralph,” The man said.

As if right on cue one of the Kerokajé walked over to a nearby cage and took an elderly woman out.

She fought the beast the best she could, but its grip was just too secure, and it dragged her to the pentagram and tied her up.

The leader walked over and joined the circle that surrounded the ritual spot and began to chant in its horrible bone-chilling voice.

As the rest joined in and the chants grew louder, I saw the familiar yellow vapour radiate from the helpless woman’s body.

“This is horrible,” Ralph said, shuddering.  
“I know” I replied, “I only wish there were a way to stop them.”

The shadowy, leathery cocoon came out of the shadows and wrapped itself around the steaming figure.

Once she was fully wrapped the chanting stopped, and the new cocoon was dragged to a dark spot on the other side of the cave.

A few hours passed as Ralph, and I traded stories about our homes and lives to try and take our minds off the situation, but we were soon interrupted by a Kerokajé bringing us the daily meal of suspicious soup.

More hours passed, and the demons began to gather for their daily raid, and I began to feel just how tired I was. I fell asleep as they left and I woke up a while later to Ralph who was shaking me.

“What is it?” I asked him groggily as I sat up in the cage.  
“ I think I found a way to escape” He replied, voice low as not to be heard by the beasts.

He pointed to a few of the metal bars which were rusted and chipped.

“I bet if we spent part of each day wearing them down, we could break free and get out of here,” He said.  
“What would we do if we escaped,” I asked.  
“We have to tell the king. If we tell him of this cavern's location, he can send his army and destroy these beasts before they can increase their numbers to an unstoppable level!”

It was a good plan, but I only hoped that we were able to wear down the bars before we were picked for the ritual and transformed into Kerokajé.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Steven and Ralph be able to pull off their plan or will they be stopped by the Kerokajé?

Over the next few days, Ralph and I carried out the routine of; sleep, wear down bars, eat and try not to get picked for the daily ritual. After about four days of work, we broke through three of the metal bars on our cage.

We waited until nightfall, as that seemed to be the time of least demon activity, and crept out quietly.

We walked around the wall of the cavern until we got to the entrance and we made a run for it. When we got to the end of the tunnel, and out into the forest, we were relieved.

It was great to finally see the sky again after who knows how many days stuck in a cage in a cavern, and I felt as if nothing could go wrong.

It was at this point that we heard something snarl behind us. I turned around only to be picked up by the Kerokajé leader. I kicked at it with my legs, but it kept me within its grasp.

Ralph picked up a rock and threw it at the beast’s head, but instead of damaging it, the stone only seemed to annoy it.

It flung me into a tree, and my whole body spasmed in pain, it walked over to Ralph, who continued to pelt it with stones although they did nothing to stop it.

I knew I had to help him, so I picked myself up and grabbed a sharp-looking stick and ran up to it. I thrust the stick into its back, but it didn’t even scratch the beast’s hard black skin.

It turned around to look at me, and I kicked its feet, knocking it over. Ralph picked up a heavy rock and brought it down on the demon, but the Kerokajé shook it off and stood up towering over me.

As its red eyes glinted in the moonlight, I could feel all hope of escape leaving me. There was no way we would be able to beat this creature. It was invincible!

It stepped towards me, and I heard a *Woosh* sound as an arrow flew out of the forest and embedded itself in the demon’s neck. It looked around for the new attacker swaying and thrashing violently before crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

“Quickly this way, before it wakes up!” Our saviour called out to us.

We ran into the forest, and the mystery person dropped down from a tree.

“Who are you?” I asked.  
“My name is Charlotte,” she said.  
“How were your arrows able to pierce its skin?” Asked Ralph.  
“It was made with dragon tooth and tipped with dragon blood to cause paralysis.” She replied.  
“How do you know the Kerokajé’s weaknesses?” I asked.  
“Oh, those demon things? I read it in some book I ‘found’ in the Capital city,” said Charlotte.

“We have to tell the king of the beasts’ location,” Ralph said.  
“You think he’ll be able to destroy them even if he knows where they are?” Charlotte asked.  
“We have to hope so,” I said.  
“Well, I’m gonna get going, see you laters!” She said.  
“Wait, you have to come too!” I said.  
“Why?”  
“You know their weaknesses,” said Ralph.  
“What’s in it for me?” Asked Charlotte.  
“The king will probably reward you with gold for this information!” Ralph said.  
“Gold?” she asked, intrigued.  
“Lots of it!” I said.  
“Well, I like gold… And you guys probably need an escort so… I’m in!”  
“Really? That’s great!” I said cheerily “But we probably need to get going now.”  
“Yeah definitely,” Charlotte said.

With that, our new trio walked off into the forest, towards the Capital!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio continues on their journey and in the darkness, something stirs.

Once we made our way through the forest, we exited into the ruins of my village.

“Everything is destroyed!” I said.

I ran to my house (or what was left of it) and looked inside. It was a mess. There was furniture tossed around everywhere, cupboard doors and drawers were broken off, and my mother was nowhere to be seen.

“She’s gone,” I said.  
“Who’s gone?” Ralph asked.  
“My mother.”  
“I’m so sorry,” Ralph said comfortingly.

“We should continue towards the Capital,” Charlotte said.

We walked down the old road out of the city, continuing our journey to the King so we can give him information that would hopefully help defeat the Kerokajé and leaving the ruins of my town behind.

~~~

Back in the cavern, the Kerokajé leader was furious. How dare some pesky humans try and get the best of him! But he wasn’t stupid. He had the perfect way to neutralise these tiny beings.

In the middle of the cavern, the demons stood in a circle led by the leader as they chanted horrendously.

The pentagram lit up with purple flames and out of the smoke rose a beast that had not walked this Earth for the past 1000 years. Its fangs were large and pointed and its bug-like carapace rustled in the demonic heat.

It bowed its head as the leader rasped in its ear and then with an earth splitting shriek it ran out of the cavern, powerful, clawed limbs propelling it into the distance and towards our heroes.

~~~

The Sun was getting low in the sky, so we decided to stop and make camp not far from the worn road. It was lucky the royal guard was trained to make camp anywhere, or we would not have had a shelter for the night.

Charlotte had some food that she had ‘bought’ from a vendor in a fortified town not far from here and despite its dubious allocation it tasted great, especially after so many days of that horrible broth the Kerokajé fed us. Just thinking of that place sent shivers down my spine, and I focused on the task at hand; eating.

“What were you doing out in the woods?” Ralph asked Charlotte, breaking the silence.  
“Oh, you know, ransacked towns are a great place to find loot.”

I was at this point, starting to question just how much we could trust our new ‘friend’.

“Did you really just stumble upon the Kerokajé’s greatest weaknesses in a book?” I asked.  
“Yeah, something like that!” She replied.

After we’d eaten, we decided to rest, we had a long journey ahead of us, and it was only going to get harder.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio reaches the fortified town.

I woke up after a restless night full of bad dreams and stepped outside of our makeshift home. The fresh morning air was a welcome feeling after being stuck in a cage for so long.

“Hey,” Ralph’s voice said behind me.  
“Hey,” I responded.  
“It’s good to be out in the fresh air again, isn’t it?”  
“It sure is” I replied.

"What are you two doing up so early?" Charlotte said as she came out to join us.  
"We need to move quickly to the Capital with our information," said Ralph.

Ralph and I packed our limited belongings and headed down the road to the upcoming town.

By the time the village was in our sight, it was already noon. We were all exhausted, but we pressed on to the gate.

When we arrived at the gate, we were met with guards who said they weren't allowed to let anyone in. Luckily Ralph seemed to know them from a school he went to in the Capital, and he managed to convince them to let us through.

"Why do we need to come to this boring town, anyway?" Charlotte asked.  
"With the demon crises as it is the King has made it, so the only way in or out of the Capital is through a series of military tunnels. One of which runs through this village, hence the fortification" Ralph replied.  
"I didn't know the problem was that bad, I thought they were just attacking small towns!" I said.  
"They are raiding anything they can get at."

Suddenly a section of the wall exploded, and a beast that looked like a cross between a giant bug and a sabre tooth lion burst through the dust. It screamed and destroyed everything in sight as more and more guards rushed to defeat it.

"I don't know about you guys, but this seems like a good time to find that military tunnel, don't you think?" Charlotte yelled, firing a few arrows into the beasts carapace.  
"Good idea, follow me!" Ralph said.

He bolted to a stone shed a few meters from where we were standing and struggled to unlock the door. Charlotte and I ran after him.

"I can't get this door unlocked."  
"I can!" I said.

When I was younger, my friends and I used to break into loads of places we weren't allowed to be in and along the way I learnt how to pick locks. This lock was quite simple, and using two small sticks I was able to get us in.

Behind us, we could see the monster rampaging around town, the guards were slowing it down, but I wasn't sure if they would be able to stop it.

Ralph closed the door behind us as we made our way down the tunnel echoes of the fight rang around us.

"What was that thing?" I asked.  
"Never seen anything like that before," Charlotte replied.  
"Do you think the Kerokajé sent it?" Asked Ralph.  
"Wouldn't put it past them," Charlotte said.  
"I hope the village is okay, " I said.  
"Me too but we have to keep moving," said Ralph.

We came to a fork in the tunnel and stopped to rest, we were pretty confident that we had put enough distance between us and the bug-beast.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation of the trio's journey.

“Which way is it, left or right?” Charlotte asked.  
“Right,” Ralph said.

We walked down the tunnel until we came to an armoury room. Ralph went around putting on armour and collecting weaponry from the shelves.

“What are you doing?” I asked.  
“I’m making sure I’m ready for the next monster that tries to fight us,” He said.

I saw Charlotte was looting all the fancy looking ornate weapons and any money she could find and putting it in her satchel.

I decided to get a weapon for myself as there was no use being the only one who couldn’t fight. I saw a dagger on a pedestal and went to grab it.

“You probably shouldn’t use that one,” Ralph said.  
“Why not?” I asked.  
“It’s a ceremonial knife and the guards will definitely notice if that one is gone.”  
“So? That’s just more reason to take it!” Charlotte said.  
“You’d take anything if it were shiny enough” Ralph replied.  
“True,” She nodded.  
“Well it’s the only weapon here that I can hold, and I’m not leaving without one, so I’m gonna take it,” I said as I put the dagger into my pouch.  
“All right! Let’s steal some more stuff!” Charlotte yelled.  
“We’re not stealing, and we’re borrowing this stuff. And anyway we need to be moving.” Ralph replied in a stern tone.  
“Fiiine, but I’m not returning any of this cool gear,” She said.

We left the room and headed down another corridor and eventually came to a set of stairs that lead upwards.

We went up the stairs and came out into a clearing surrounded by woods. There were a few buildings and quite a few knights and soldiers at each one.

“Who are you three?” one of the guards asked us as he approached.  
“I’m all that’s left of the royal guard division that was sent out to scout the Kerokajé” Ralph replied, stepping forward to meet the man.  
“Who are the other two?”  
“They are civilians that helped me when the beasts attacked me.”  
“Even the girl?”  
“Hey! You wanna go punk?” She yelled.  
“Yes, even ‘the girl’,” Ralph said.

“We have got information for the King which is where I’m heading now,” Ralph told him.  
“Well we’re not allowed to let anyone without authentication through so I guess you’ll just have to wait here ‘till you can get some” The guard said.  
“Does this count as authentication?” Ralph asked as he took out a badge that had the royal guard symbol on it.  
“Yes, I ‘spose it does,” he said, “right this way.”

He showed us to a group of knights around the back of the clearing. They were standing in formation next to a newly made path that led into the woods.

“These knights were just heading into the Capital, they’ll take you as far as you need,” The guard said.  
“Thanks,” Ralph said to him.

The knights exchanged some glances, and we all headed off into the forest. We were one step closer to getting to the Capital and telling the King the location of the Kerokajé.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio make their way to the Capital but will the way be smooth sailing or will they face deadly obstacles.

Ralph, Charlotte and I walked with the handful of knights down the path into the woods. It reminded me of the woods outside my home. Considering how widespread the woods were, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was all one big forest.

The path seemed to go on forever, and the forest seemed to get darker and darker until we could no longer see the sky above us.

“How far out have the Kerokajé been spotted?” I asked Ralph.  
“As far out as the Capital walls,” he replied, “some say they have seen them inside the Capital, but I think that’s just fearmongering.”  
“So there’s a chance we’ll run into them in these woods?” Charlotte asked.  
“I hope not,” I said.

We got out our torches to help us find our way, and as we did, I was sure I could hear something scuttle away into the shadows.

Up ahead, some trees had fallen onto the ground, so we had to stop and move them. As we did, we heard a familiar screech as the Sabre-Toothed-Lion-Bug jumped out behind us.

Charlotte fired an arrow at it as she yelled: “How did it find us?”  
“You know that thing?” One of the knights yelled back as he swung his sword at the monster.

Charlotte’s arrows stuck out of its hide, but they didn’t pierce deep enough to wound it severely. The swords didn’t fare much better as they only left scratches in its body.

I grabbed a torch and swung it at the Buglion as it leapt towards me, it shrieked in surprise and backed away from me.

“It’s scared of fire!” I yelled at everyone, and I continued swinging at the beast's head.

They all grabbed their torches and surrounded the creature as it snarled ferociously. Charlotte fired some arrows at it catching it in both the head and carapace. The headshots seemed to hurt it more than anything we’d managed to do, and it screamed in pain.

But just as we thought the tides of battle were beginning to fall to our side, the Buglion overcame its fear and charged me. I pulled out my knife, and as its maw of fangs sunk into my shoulder, I plunged the ceremonial weapon into its neck.

A golden glow spread from the knife to the beast and enveloped it. Smoke appeared to rise from its body as if it had just been set on fire. It let go of me and jolted around trying to put itself out, but it wasn’t able to.

Ralph was able to approach it in its disorientated state and plunged his sword into the monster’s skull.

It burst into a purple light and disappeared.

“Did we kill it?” Charlotte asked.  
“I think so,” Ralph replied.

It was at this point I passed out due to the large bite in my shoulder the creature had left, and I hit the ground with a thud.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A slightly less journey driven chapter.

In the cavern the Kerokajé leader was angry.  
‘How could those humans have killed his demon?’

He decided he’d have to send something even more powerful to kill them. Once they were dead, he would have enough time to build his armies of demons.

He gathered the Kerokajé around the pentagram, more than there was last time. As he began chanting, he could feel the energy being drawn from out of the room and into the centre. An icy cold presence enveloped the ceremonial torches and snuffed them out.

The new demon looked like a pale dark wisp of smoke, and its face could be seen contorting in horrifying detail at the top of its body. Its legs and arms were spectral tendrils of smoke and ice, and when it moved, it floated through the air like a demonic cloud.

Surely this spirit wouldn’t be defeated, surely.

~~~

I awoke in a makeshift bed, my shoulder was wrapped in bandages and was in a bit of pain.

I sat up in bed and saw Ralph come into the tent I was in.

“You’re awake!” He said.  
“What happened?”  
“You passed out from blood loss.”  
“Did we kill it?” I asked.  
“Yes, we did.”  
“Good”  
“How’s your shoulder?” He asked.  
“It hurts a little, but it’s not bleeding” I replied.  
“How did your dagger kill the demon?”  
“I don’t know; maybe it was something to do with it being ceremonial?”  
“That would make sense.”

“Can you walk?” Ralph asked.  
“I think so,” I replied.

I got up and followed him out of the tent.

“You’re alive,” Charlotte said.  
"Yeah, I am. What happened?"

They told me how I passed out from the wound and how they set up camp for the night.

“The Kerokajé are probably going to send more beasts after us when they find out we’ve killed that Buglion,” Said Ralph.  
“We should get moving as soon as possible then,” I said.

We packed up and started walking down the road again. It was going to be a long walk to the Capital if the Kerokajé kept sending their monsters after us.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group gets lost in the woods.

We walked through the dark woods, the memory of our last fight still present in our minds. As we walked the path seemed to disappear in front of us. We looked behind us, but the track had gone from there too.

“Where did the path go?” Asked Charlotte.  
“I don’t know,” one of the knights replied.  
“It can’t have just vanished,” Ralph said, “it must be here.”  
“Maybe we took a wrong turn,” I said.  
“Maybe it’s the Kerokajé,” said Charlotte.  
“How could it be?” Ralph responded.

“We should keep moving forward,” said another knight, “maybe we’ll find the path up ahead.”

We walked for about half an hour before we stopped and looked at our surroundings.

“We’ve been walking around in circles!” Charlotte said.  
“How could that be possible?” Ralph replied, “We’ve been walking straight forwards this whole time.”

I turned around to see where we’d come from, but instead of the forest behind me, I saw a clearing. In the middle of a clearing was a cottage, it was designed in a way that I had never seen before.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the cottage.  
“That wasn’t there before,” said one of the knights.

“Maybe we should go ask if anyone knows how to get the path,” I said.  
“Well, it’s the best plan we’ve got,” said Ralph.

The six of us walked towards the cottage, and Ralph walked up to the door and knocked on it.

The door opened, and an older woman peered out.

“Hello,” she said.  
“Hello,” Ralph replied, “Do you know how to get to the Capital from here?”  
“There is a path not far from here that leads to the Capital,” she replied, “but it’s far too dangerous to travel at night.”  
“But it’s not ni-” Charlotte started to say.

Suddenly the sky darkened, and the Moon could be seen just over the treetops.

“You lot should stay the night with me. It’s safe in my cottage,” the old lady said.

“It was just the middle of the day!” Charlotte said.

“We’d be glad to spend the night here,” Ralph said.

The lady showed us around her house, which seemed much bigger on the inside, and then showed us to our rooms.

I was put into a room with Ralph while Charlotte was put into a room with the female knight.

I sat down in the bed that was in the middle of the room. It was a lot bigger than the bed I had at home and a lot more comfortable.

“It’s been quite a tough past few weeks,” I said to Ralph.  
“Yeah it has,” he replied.

“How’s your wound?” He asked.  
“It’s getting better,” I said.

The room only had one bed in it, and off to the side was attached to a bathroom.

“This is a very fancy cottage,” I said.  
“Despite this, it hasn’t even got two beds” Ralph replied.  
“Well I can sleep on one side, and you can sleep on the other,” I told him.  
“I suppose.”

We took in turns getting changed for the night in the bathroom and got into bed, waiting for the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long time between updates, I just suffered a bit of writer's block and didn't have a lot of time to push through it.


End file.
